on to feud with Danny Dominion over the Northern States TV Title, which was showcased on ex-AWA announcer Mick Karch's weekly TV show, "Slick Mick's Bodyslam Revue". Later, future Domain trainees CM Punk and Colt Cabana debuted in Minnesota and begin their careers under the guidance of Steel, Dominion, and Pearce. Later on, Pearce became a member of the Gold Bond Mafia with CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Dave Prazak, and Chuck E. Smooth. At the same time, Pearce began working in All-Star Championship Wrestling based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as the promotion's top babyface and later, top heel. His matches against Dino Bambino were viewed as being among the area's best, and their 1999 Cage Match in Green Bay was voted the 1999 Upper Midwest Match of the Year. Pearce captured the ACW Heavyweight Title by defeating longtime rival Adrian Lynch in Green Bay, and held it until losing to Rob Norwood in a 3-Way-Dance months later. During this time, Pearce also made appearances in Nashville, Tennessee for Bert Prentice's Music City Wrestling and in Pittsburgh for Norm Connors' Steel City Wrestling. World Wrestling Federation (1997–1999) Pearce made several World Wrestling Federation (WWF) appearances as enhancement talent, where he was noticed by Terry Taylor. When Taylor moved to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Pearce was contacted by Paul Orndorff. After attending the WCW Power Plant, Pearce was offered a WCW developmental contract but he declined, as he did not feel that relocating to Atlanta was a viable option for him. After a stint in the short-lived WXO promotion in early 2000, Pearce had another tryout with WCW, but described WCW as being "disorganized and chaotic". Pearce felt "burnt out" and decided to take time off from professional wrestling. Californian independent circuit (2000–2014) After eight months, Pearce returned to wrestling at the urging of both Christopher Daniels and Kevin Kelly. Through Kelly, he met Rick Bassman and began working for Bassman's Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) promotion. In UPW, he was teamed with Aaron Aguilera in a tag team called "Hardkore Inc". Pearce has worked several UPW events, most notably against Diamond Dallas Page at UPW's biggest event, Overload, held in Las Vegas. He also wrestled Chris Masters in Masters' last independent match before being signed by WWF (now WWE). He also was signed to be a part of the King of Indies 2001 Tournament, promoted by Roland Alexander's All Pro Wrestling (APW).